Why HENSOLDT's partnerships with Helsing and Schwarz Digits are more than just industrial policy
The partnerships between HENSOLDT and Helsing and Schwarz Digits are creating an end-to-end European combat architecture - from sensors on the military platform to the cloud, from distributed data management to artificial intelligence - all sovereign.
The current situation
The Munich Security Conference 2026 has made a sober diagnosis: The international order is becoming more fragile, strategic reliability is declining, military and technological dependencies are becoming security policy risks.
For Europe's armed forces, this means a clear consequence - sovereignty is not a political buzzword, but an operational necessity. Europe must learn to operate without a safety net.
This is not just about ammunition stocks or industrial capacities. It is about data. About software. It's about the question of who has control over data and digital decision-making processes in an emergency.
Modern multi-domain operations - i.e. coordinated action in the military domains of land, air, sea, cyber and space - are based on networked data streams. Sensors generate information, algorithms and AI models evaluate it and infrastructures scale it. If you don't control this chain, you don't control your own management capability.
This is precisely where HENSOLDT's cooperation with Helsing and Schwarz Digits comes in. These partnerships are creating an end-to-end European combat architecture - from sensors on the military platform to the cloud, from distributed data management to artificial intelligence - all sovereign.
A European value chain for the battlefield
HENSOLDT is responsible for the sensor technology, data, sensor-related algorithms and AI, hardened edge servers in the weapon systems and the integration architecture. With the MDOcore software suite, the company provides the data fusion and orchestration layer - the digital backbone for multi-domain operations.
Helsing develops AI models that use this database to identify tactical patterns, support mission logic and analyze complex interdependencies. This is not about isolated algorithms, but about AI that is deeply embedded in operational decision-making processes - from the platform to the impact. This interaction is already to be used in the first product of the two companies, the autonomous CA-1 Europa fighter aircraft from Helsing.
In the partnership with HENSOLDT,Schwarz Digits is responsible for the sovereign cloud and IT infrastructure with its STACKIT solution - from the Fog nodes in the country of deployment to highly secure data centers under European sovereignty, networked with its own software stack from the edge via the Fog to the national multi-cloud environment.
This is the first time that a completely European architecture has been created: sensor - fusion - AI - infrastructure. No isolated components, but an end-to-end system chain.
HENSOLDT: Sensors and integration architecture
In this constellation, HENSOLDT assumes the role of system architect. The company contributes not only radar, optronics and electronic warfare capabilities, but above all a deep understanding of military system integration.
In addition, the company is consistently driving forward the development of software-defined defense. MDOcore is at the heart of the software architecture.
The software suite correlates sensor data from different platforms, prioritizes threats and provides a consistent, cross-domain situational picture.
The architecture has a distributed design - edge fog cloud - and remains functional even under jamming or cyber pressure.
"Digital sovereignty is decided in the architecture, the code and the infrastructure. If we don't control infrastructure, sensor technology, data fusion and AI ourselves, we are handing over our basis for decision-making.
Especially in scenarios such as defending against swarms of drones or hypersonic threats, integrated data fusion across multiple domains significantly shortens the sensor-to-shooter chain. Seconds replace minutes - a difference that can be decisive on the battlefield."
Helsing: AI-supported mission and action logic
Helsing complements this architecture with AI-supported decision support. This is not about abstract solutions, but about militarily relevant applications.
The AI models analyse mass data from various domains, recognize patterns, evaluate threat intentions and support dynamic resource prioritization.
In complex situations with simultaneous attacks - such as a combination of drones, missiles and cyber operations - this creates a reliable basis for decision-making.
Helsing thus shapes the cognitive level of the battle architecture:
Evaluation, prioritization, forecasting and adaptive mission management are enabled and continuously developed on a software basis.
"AI is not an add-on. It is an integral part of modern warfare. It is crucial that it is deeply embedded in the mission architecture - from the platform to the effect.
Especially in the air domain - where reaction times are in the seconds range - this integration becomes a tactical accelerator."
Schwarz Digits: Infrastructure as a strategic factor
Digital sovereignty does not end with software. It starts with the infrastructure.
With its STACKIT cloud and IT architecture, Schwarz Digits ensures that data storage, processing and scaling remain under European control. This applies not only to the regulatory dimension, but above all to operational resilience: data centers, certifications, access controls and network control must remain with European companies.
This is because scalable computing power is essential in data-intensive multi-domain scenarios - such as the aggregation of sensor data across large areas. At the same time, it must not be politically or economically vulnerable.
Stephan Hempel, Managing Director at Schwarz Digits, emphasizes: "Our sovereign cloud infrastructure ensures that highly complex software suites such as MDOcore can deliver maximum performance exactly where they are needed: from the highly secure data center, to the public and private cloud, to the tactical edge in mobile use."
Concrete added value in use
The partnerships unfold their value where it counts: in the battlefield.
When protecting critical infrastructure, stationary and mobile sensors from HENSOLDT or third parties can detect threats at an early stage. MDOcore fuses this data in real time. Helsing AI evaluates attack patterns and prioritizes defensive measures. Schwarz Digits' infrastructure ensures that operational capability remains stable even under high data loads and cyber pressure.
In networked operations, combat vehicles, unmanned systems and stationary sensors are integrated into a common situation picture. Decisions are no longer based on fragmented reports, but on consolidated, prioritized information.
The result is not only a faster response, but also greater command and control capability.
European capacity to act in the digital battlespace
The strategic situation requires more than selective technology projects. It requires a consistent architecture.
HENSOLDT's partnerships with Helsing and Schwarz Digits provide the European answer to the question of digital agility. Sensor technology, AI and infrastructure interlock - under our own control, interoperable with partners, but without structural dependence on non-European platforms.
Sven Heursch summarizes the strategic dimension:
"Europe does not need isolated lighthouse projects. Europe needs a sovereign, scalable combat architecture. This is exactly what we are working on."
Digital sovereignty is thus being transformed from a political goal into a military readiness. And in a global situation in which strategic reliability is no longer a constant, this capability is becoming a decisive factor.